On “Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated in Tehran”
Simply by reordering some of the great material in this report, one can emphasize a few additional and important points.
The language of Western imperialism reveals its criminal intent, as it has now degenerated into Mafia-style indirect threats akin to language used in old Hollywood movies. (A shop owner asks the visiting Mafioso why he should buy protection. The answer: “The world is a cruel place. It’s full of mean people. Anything could happen, terrible things. You wouldn’t want to have something bad happen to your family or your little shop and be left unprotected, right?”)
So we hear Mickey Segal, former director of Israel’s Iranian intelligence department: “Many bad things have been happening to Iran in the recent period. Iran is in a situation where pressure on it is mounting, and the latest assassination joins the pressure that the Iranian regime is facing.”
And Israeli military chief Lt. General Benny Gantz, speaking the day before the latest murder: 2012 would be a “critical year” for Iran, due to “things that happen to it unnaturally.”
While imperialist operatives openly acknowledge their filthy role in these attacks on Iran, its shameless political hacks do what they do best: turn reality on its head for the benefit of the populace.
Art Keller, former CIA case officer who worked on Iran: “We are definitely doing that [i.e. sabotaging Iran’s nuclear programs]. It’s pretty much the stated mission of the [CIA’s] counter-proliferation division to do what it takes to slow … Iran’s weapons of mass destruction.” (Even if they don't exist!)
The right-wing French daily Le Figaro: “the US and Israel have carried out multiple acts of sabotage against sensitive nuclear installations, while ordering targeted killings of Iranian nuclear experts.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, using language obviously aimed at the US population via the obedient bourgeois US press, attacked Iran for its alleged “provocative rhetoric,” and “categorically” denying that the US was involved in acts of violence inside Iran.
Charles H
Texas, USA
12 January 2012
On “Miliband commits UK Labour to long-term austerity”
Thank you, Julie Hyland, for your excellent article that fully open eyes of readers on what is in store for oppressed masses in the United Kingdom. As I understand Scotland’s attempt to assert independence in the near future is their solution to the tightening of noose by the British state vis-a-vis oppressed masses in the UK. However, the intensification of struggle to unite masses against the ruling elite in both Britain and Scotland is bound to misfire the sinister plans of the politicians on behalf of the bourgeoisie. In that task, the biggest hurdle to overcome is the pseudo-left that serves the Labour party. It is my wish that the ICFI succeeds in countering that pseudo-left.
IVE
Sri Lanka
13 January 2012
On “The Iron Lady: What were they thinking?”
Just saw the film and agree strongly with your sentiments. Good article.
Andrew
12 January 2012
On “Mitt Romney, Bain Capital and American capitalism”
Thank you for an excellent and revealing article. While the current Republican field is obviously vulnerable politically for its support of predatory capitalism, two additional issues bear scrutiny. While President Obama has taken some steps to combat economic injustice (think the Lily Ledbetter Pay Equity Act) he is himself vulnerable on economic issues. His administration has done nothing to stop the looting of publicly traded corporations through excessive executive compensation (stock options etc). His administration has taken no concrete steps to ban either equity or credit derivatives (think Credit Default Swaps, CDOs, etc.) the unregulated gambling in which by firms such as J.P. Morgan almost destroyed the financial system. He has not fought to reinstate the separation of investment and commercial banking nor has he even raised the issue of aider and abettor liability for legal investment banking and accounting firms implicated in various types of fraudulent activity.
Secondly, there is an ugly issue of identity politics, which is obscuring the underlying economic and legal issues in the current presidential campaign. The Republican field rallies around the ideology of “states rights”; democratic hacks like Al Sharpton attack the Republicans as thinly disguised racists and segregationists. While there is an element of truth in this position it is not the whole truth. In the early1800s, the concept of states rights also had a strong economic populist element in it. It reflected the genuine opposition of farmers (not plantation owners), small independent merchants, artisans, etc., to concentrated economic power of institutions like the Bank of the United States and its lending policies.
Sincerely,
Peter L
Connecticut, USA
12 January 2012